| The concept of resources has played a prominent role in many theories of stress, both inside and outside the workplace (e.g., Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001; Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999; Hobfoll, 1989, 2001; Maslach, 1998). Such theories present the stress process as an interplay between environmental demands (stressors) and resources that an individual possesses that can deal with those demands. The most influential of those general theories is Hobfoll’s (1989) conservation of resources (COR) theory that states people are motivated to acquire and conserve their resources. It is the loss or threat of loss of resources that is stressful. However, that resource loss is necessarily stressful is merely assumed, with little attention given to why and under what conditions it is stressful. Thus COR theory deals primarily with the connection between resource existence and stress, and not the underlying mechanism that would make the loss of resources stressful. This chapter goes further than existing treatments of resources to discuss how the control and strategic use of resources plays a role in stress. It assumes that humans have a basic need to control their environment, and one aspect of that environment that is particularly salient is the set of resources that are necessary to accomplish goals and deal with demands. The absence and/or loss of control over such resources is stressful because it threatens an individual’s likelihood of survival, for example, if the biological demand of acquiring food cannot be met. Thus it is not resource loss or threat of loss that is itself stressful, but rather the loss or threat of loss of control that is stressful because the loss of that control produces uncertainty that one can achieve important goals and cope with demands. One aspect of control has to do with resource allocation (Grawitch, Barber, & Justice, 2010). From this perspective the individual is a strategic decision maker who makes choices as to where his or her resources will be spent. Individuals have a variety of goals and objectives that require the expenditure of resources to achieve, and demands that require resource with which to cope. Individuals go through what is much like a budgeting process to allocate their resources strategically among various activities throughout the day. The expenditure of resources to achieve personal goals is not in and of itself stressful to an individual, and in fact progress toward achieving goals can have positive psychological effects, for example, feelings of accomplishment and positive emotions such as pride. Rather it is the loss of control over resources that leads to strain, either because resources are consumed and additional resources are unavailable to meet current demands, or because the individual has inadequate control over resources to meet anticipated future demands. |
